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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Top 3 Personality Traits You Need as an Events Manager

It takes a certain type of person to succeed as an events manager.

There are skills and intrinsic personality traits that will propel your career in the events industry. Possessing the right characteristics doesn’t always mean that you’re inherently a phenomenal events manager, though. Many great event planners learn the skills and traits they need to thrive through experience in the business. Whether you come by these attributes naturally or you develop them along the way, here are the top 3 personality traits you need as an event manager – from one of the top event companies in London, the Purple Patch Group.

Interpersonal Skills

One of the most important qualities you can attain as an events manager is proficiency in interpersonal relations. Almost every aspect of your job requires working with others. Not only working with them but also relying on them to follow through for your event. If you deal poorly with other people, then you will have a hard time as an event planner.

You’ll likely have a team of your own to manage, in which you’ll exercise strong leadership. Good leaders keep up consistent communication with their teams, ensuring everyone is up to date and aware of their tasks. It also means letting your team know when problems occur, or when you’ve made a mistake. Sometimes, things can go wrong, and everyone commits errors every now and then. To work through tough spots like these, your team has to know what they’re dealing with.

Interpersonal skills are also about networking. To operate as a successful London event company, our group has made numerous contacts across the events industry. Pulling off a big corporate event requires staff from the catering industry, from media or entertainment, or even from the niche industry your event is being held for. If you burn bridges or lose contact with your staff after an event’s over, hosting your next event will be a significant challenge.

Creativity

The next personality quirk that event managers should possess is creativity. At its most basic, planning an event is an imaginative exercise. It takes a great deal of ingenuity – and sometimes even innovation – to host a memorable event. Corporate events are becoming more and more creative, with unique venues, interactive exhibits, and wild themes.

But this sort of creativity is limited to the “big picture” planning of an event. Managers also need resourcefulness for practical details. Inventive solutions are sometimes required for things like checking guests in, how to live stream your keynote speaker, or if your caterers show up with the wrong food. The big and small details are where event managers show their passion for this business as well. While excitement for event planning isn’t necessarily a personality trait, it is essential for any outstanding events manager. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t be as committed to an event’s success.

Yet another fundamental aspect of creativity is flexibility. Laid back, cool-under-pressure personalities are best suited for being events managers. Adapting quickly to issues as they arise not only makes a good personality trait, but it’s also a must for an event planner. Even if you have contingency plans, you still never know what could go wrong at a live event. Responding decisively without stressing out is crucial.

Organisation

One final attribute that great events managers should have is a sense of high-level organisation. Our group wouldn’t be a successful corporate event company in London if it weren’t for our organised planners. Event planners should, as we mentioned, pay strong attention to detail. Preparing, categorising, and keeping everything orderly will help smooth out any problems that arise.

Additionally, events managers should have a knack for budgeting and multitasking. It’s generally not enough to have a proclivity toward the organisation. Knowing how to handle expenses and invoices is also important for the event planner, to whom this task typically falls. Furthermore, your ability to keep things in order will be put to the test during the event. Many things happen at once and you must be able to complete more than one task at a time.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to come by interpersonal skills, creativity, or organisational skills naturally to make it as an events manager – although it certainly helps! It’s possible to learn these characteristics on the job. Consequently, the most important trait you need for the events industry – or any industry – is a willingness to learn. At our London event company, the Purple Patch Group, we’ve always found that passion and curiosity were the driving forces behind our success. If you consistently push yourself to excel and do the best work you can do, then the skills you need will develop along the way.